Barrowmate
Our story
Barrowmate was invented by Townsville local Jason Chester, a fencer for over 30 years.
Jason came up with Barrowmate while doing fencing work on the Whitsunday Islands, where he had to carry his tools, plans and clothes with no vehicle. It was raining, and he needed something mobile that would keep everything safe and dry.
He knew he was on a winner when all the other tradies working on the island loved it, and that's when he decided to make more. Jason formed a partnership with good friend and leading builder Perry McDonald, and together they established Toolspace, the company that manufactures Barrowmate.
Inspired after completing the Kokoda Track, Jason couldn't believe what the Australian soldiers did. That's when he knew he had to make Barrowmate all Australian, out of respect for those legends, and that's what Toolspace set out to do.
Toolspace launched the Australian designed and made Barrowmate to the public in December 2019. Jason and Perry are passionate about creating jobs for Australians through Aussie innovation and hard work. Barrowmate is proudly manufactured right here in Australia.
With patents in Australia, New Zealand and the US, Toolspace's vision is for Barrowmate to become an Aussie icon, and a best mate to tradies, farmers, miners and home gardeners around the world.
“It was raining and he needed something mobile that would keep everything safe and dry.”
See it in action
It was a very clever idea to design and manufacture a universal, secure, waterproof cover… very clever indeed.”
